Corey Lemley with the Nashville Anti-Racist Action Network and part of the antifa movement poses at his home. Lemley was instrumental in mobilizing counter-protest groups against League of the South's White Lives Matter rally on Oct. 28, 2017, in Murfreesboro, Tenn.(Photo: Alan Poizner)

On Saturday afternoon, just as League of the South's White Lives Matter was scheduled to get underway, a small army of black-clad Antifa members — the majority of whom had their faces covered — arrived.

Corey Lemley, a 27-year-old from Nashville, was instrumental in mobilizing efforts of the Antifa resistance on Saturday, particularly in the college town of Murfreesboro. He's also a member of the Nashville Anti-Racist Action.

In weeks preceding the rally, Lemley put out fliers and blasted social media encouraging backlash to the white supremacists coming to Murfreesboro on Oct. 28 — so much so, his Twitter and Facebook accounts were temporarily disabled.

Lemley talked with USA Today Network-Tennessee recently about his work with Antifa, which is short for anti-fascist. Those involved in Anti-Racist Action Network and Antifa movements track and monitor activities of white supremacists and, in particular, neo-Nazis.

What is Antifa?

Lemley: "Antifa is not a group, it’s not an organization. It is a political stance stating you’re against fascism in any form (and) right-wing government ideology, when institutional policy is built on racism and white nationalism. Mussolini, Nazis, they subjugated minority groups, they attacked the media through Lugenpresse, the lying press. You see similar tactics today … with right-wing propaganda. It’s a fascist tactic … and an effective tool."

Do you consider yourself a liberal?

Lemley: "I do not. There are a lot of fundamental core beliefs I share with liberals on systemic injustice. We, as a collective, embrace a diversity of tactics. … We always stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who also oppose racism and white supremacy and bigotry, and we will protect their space to express their peaceful protest and peaceful message."

Are you against guns or do you support the Second Amendment?

Lemley: "As far as the Second Amendment, we believe as a collective, before the populous can be disarmed, the state must disarm itself.

"In Nazi Germany ... gun rights were expanded for white, working-class Nazi Germans. They were providing guns to Nazis. … You’re seeing that sort of thing play out today. You’re seeing gun rights expanded to the white community. And you’re seeing the urban community deprived … of voting rights … basic human rights to health care, education. It’s a very strategic plan and it’s been happening for generations."

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Antifa members march to the White Lives Matter rally down North Church Street to the square in Murfreesboro, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017.(Photo: HELEN COMER/DNJ)

Antifa members cover their faces. Some people compare that to the Ku Klux Klan members who wear white robes. Why do you do that?

Lemley: "Many people in our groups ... have been targeted by Neo-Nazis … their kids, their workplaces, their homes. When (Antifa) use the tactic of covering their faces, it’s to protect the identity and protect those around them and those they love. There’s a necessity to cover.

"There’s also this practice called doxxing, the practice of gathering and releasing information on (Antifa) activists and dumping their information (on public sites so they can be targeted by white supremacists)."

People say Antifa is the extreme opposite of white supremacists and you’re only about violence. Is that true?

Lemley: "I know there’s the narrative that we do commit violence. … When we show up (to a rally) if there are no Nazis there, there is no violence. ... We react to fascist groups and white nationalists groups when they ... rally. When we show up ... we are literally reacting to the violence they inflicted on us. ... We don't view self-defense as violence. When we use self-defense and it's equated to violence, we feel that it's misrepresents what we're doing in regards to the violence that is visited us.

"That's a false equivalency that we are just as bad or we are no better than (white nationalists). That's putting us on the same moral plane."

Didn't you guys show up to the rally looking pretty menacing?

Lemley: "But there wasn’t anything broken (at the rally Oct. 28). ... We got through security. We had no weapons. ... The only violence was at the Corner Pub in Nashville, where a biracial couple was attacked by the Traditionalist Workers Party."

Lemley: "We do not believe that just being passive to this white nationalist movement is effective. ... Ignoring or denying its existence … that makes you complicit to racism. … When you ignore it, that paves the way for them to comfortably recruit and organize in your ... community. They will come back."

Lemley: "People in our country want to believe (racism) is gone. Really, it’s ... mainstream again. You see a lot of people go from covert to overt, emboldened by a group of white nationalists. … When they have numbers and see a lot of people sympathetic to their cause, it puts them in an echo chamber and fuels them to be more bigoted.

"I feel like the community needs to take a look in the mirror. I know it’s uncomfortable to accept the fact that (white supremacists) live in the community, those who spew hate, who spew racism, who are sympathetic to the white nationalist agenda. … I know people say, ‘This isn’t what we represent.’ … But it shouldn’t be minimized. It needs to be brought to the forefront."

Reach reporter Nancy De Gennaro at 615-278-5148 or degennaro@dnj.com, and follow her on Twitter @NanDeGennaro.